The Southwest SC BU17 Gold team has advanced to the prestigious Premier Division of Coast Soccer League (CSL) this season and will be competing in the U19 bracket against some of the best teams in the country. The boys finished the 2001-2002 season undefeated, taking home the First Place Trophy in the Gold Division.

The history of this team is a short one, as is its rise to the top of the Coast Soccer League. The team is young, being only three years old. They started playing as U15’s during the 1999-2000 season. During that first year together, the boys were Quarter-Finalists at NHB, took Second Place in both the Mission Viejo Invitational and Las Vegas Turkey Shoot Tournaments and brought home Championship Trophies from the Los Gauchos, Crusader’s Cup, and Cerritos Memorial Challenge Tournaments. They finished the season undefeated, with a record of 12-0-1, and were Champions of the CSL Bronze-East Division.

The amazing accomplishments of this first year team allowed them, the following year, to by-pass the Silver Division and compete in the CSL Silver Elite Division. During that 2000-2001 season together, the BU16’s were again Quarter Finalists at NHB; semi-finalists at the JUSA, Celtic and Cerritos Memorial Tournaments, Finalists at the Coronado Crown City Classic and Champions of the First Annual Southwest Soccer Classic. They finished league play 8-1-2 and were subsequently crowned the CSL Silver Elite Champions. For dessert, the boys capped off their second year together as the Champions of the Open State Cup Tournament.

Following the boys’ performance during the 2000-2001 season, the Club petitioned CSL, hoping they would allow the boys to bypass Gold and go directly to Premier. Well, CSL would have nothing of it, requiring the boys to “show their stuff” in the Gold Bracket before being given a chance to compete in the Premier Division.

The 2001-2002 season, only the third one for this young team, was historic. The Southwest SC BU17’s won the Gold Division of CSL with an undefeated record of 7-0-4. They scored 22 goals in 11 games while holding their opponents to only 7. They were semi-finalists in the Pegasus Cup and finalists in both the Los Gauchos and Mission Viejo Tournaments. Last year also saw them break that two-year “quarterfinal curse” at NHB. Last year the boys finally took home “the Gold” at NHB. They were also Champions of the Second Annual Southwest Soccer Classic and the Arsenal Route 66 Tournament.

In CSL League play, these boys have an overall record of 21 wins, 1 loss and 7 draws.

These boys have been working hard to prepare for this, their first season in Premier. If the boys have their way, this season will be another one “for the record book,” as has been this short but sweet story of a group of boys from Southern California who came together to… “Believe and Achieve!”

The Southwest SC BU19 team is comprised of players from Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego Counties.